| Toyota Formula 1 |  |
Toyota Launches First F1
car
Toyota, the world's
third-largest car manufacturer, has unveiled its first ever Formula 1 car
to the world’s media. The corporation’s car is the natural successor to Toyota's
world championship-winning rally Celica and Corolla cars and dominant GT-One
Le Mans projects.
Designed and built
from scratch by Toyota's Cologne-based Formula 1 operation Toyota Motorsport
GmbH in 19 months, an updated version of V10-powered Toyota car will make
its Grand Prix debut in 2002.
The arrival of
Toyota in Formula 1 is the most significant recent addition to a sport that
counts amongst its entry cars built or powered by some of the world's most
important and legendary automakers. Recognizing that the learning curve in
Formula 1 is one of the steepest in any sport, Toyota Motorsport nevertheless
is optimistic of reaching the highest levels of Grand Prix racing.
"A big-size
cheque book alone does not win races. There are recent examples of that,” declared Toyota Motorsport President Ove Andersson. "It
is the strength, dedication and passion of the whole team that makes it successful
or not. This takes time and is extremely difficult to achieve. Our first task
is to build the best possible car. Only when we have succeeded, can we maybe
start thinking, or better dreaming, about challenging for the title."
Toyota's decision
to enter F1 was a well-considered one. Toyota already benefits from the engineering
spin-offs of competing in global motor sport, but Formula 1 offers the ultimate
laboratory in which to test automotive technology. In addition, after the
soccer World Cup and the Olympic Games, Formula 1 is the world's most watched
sport.
"Toyota succeeded
in the World Rally Championship, Le Mans (2nd place '99) and CART (5 victories
2000). But our research showed us that we needed an exciting global programme," explains Tsutomu Tomita, Chairman of Toyota
Motorsport. "This
reflected the enthusiasm of a lot of our younger staff. I think that in short,
top management accepted the challenging spirits of the young generation of
Toyota employees and customers. F1 is a very new field to Toyota and we know
many big car manufacturers are competing in F1. One of the main objectives of our entry into world-popular
F1 is to enhance our brand image through our challenges. Therefore, Toyota
decided to challenge in F1 …”
Toyota's commitment
to not only build both chassis and engine but also start their team from scratch
- rather than buy an existing team – is typical of Toyota's forthright attitude
to competition.
"It is the
culture of Toyota to take up the full challenge and start from the very beginning
with a project so that at least there can be no doubt about the responsibility
for failure or success. I believe
this is the background of the decision. Being engine supplier to a famous
team is thought not to give the right return on investment and the car would
not be a Toyota. Toyota builds complete road cars so why not a complete F1
race car? For sure we will all learn much more this way," believes Ove
Andersson.
In the next 11
months, Toyota's world class drivers Allan McNish (the reigning American Le
Mans Champion) and Mika Salo (former Ferrari, BAR, Sauber, Tyrrell and Lotus
F1 driver) will put the revolutionary racing machine through a punishing schedule
of testing, starting in the next few days.
The test programme will be conducted at Toyota Motorsport's home track
Circuit Paul Ricard and at many of the world's F1 venues.
"Of course
there is a desire to see the car race as soon as possible but we are realistic
and want to have the car well prepared for racing, so that's why we are embarking
on such an exhausting test programme," said Toyota Motorsport’s
Technical Director, André de Cortanze. "In the beginning I want to
be able to make more than 300 kilometres before retiring into the pits. There
are many other goals after that but our number one aim is to achieve reliability
as well as speed. There is no point
having a fast car if it cannot finish."
The choice of
Salo and McNish was a clear one, according to Ove Andersson.
Toyota's test
programme requires the input of experienced drivers. But in addition to experience,
Toyota is looking to the future with its continuing project to support up-and-coming
young drivers.
"Our drivers
Mika and Allan, we believe, will be able to help us move forward with our
project because of their past experience. They are more than capable to provide
the technical feedback needed by our engineers and technicians,” explains Andersson.
"We have worked with Allan during our Le Mans programme and
found him technically excellent and a pleasant person to work with. Mika has
a good reputation and vast experience both from working in small as well as
in big teams. He will be instrumental in helping us get our act together. Working
as part of the team they have a tough demanding job to do in the coming years."
Both Salo and
McNish are itching to drive the new Toyota car. Salo saw the completed car
for the first time at a recent preview for Toyota Motorsport's multi-national
team at Cologne. It was a moving moment for the Finn.
"It was a
chance to say thank you to the guys who built the car and to look forward to making it competitive. If looks are
anything to go on it will be very fast, but all the revolutionary stuff is
underneath,” says Salo. "Not only for Toyota but for Formula
1, it is important that we are competitive - Formula 1 needs another dominant
team. Hopefully that will be Toyota. That is why I am here."
Formula
One Decision & Vision
The announcement of Toyota's decision to enter
Formula One was made by Mr Hiroshi Okuda, Chairman of the Board in January
1999.
Toyota has an ambitious long term vision of being
able to challenge for the FIA Formula One Constructor and Driver titles. Nothing
less! It's an exciting vision that demands an enormous commitment of resources
and time, requiring them to leverage all of their world-leading skills, systems
and technology. Week after week, year after year. To innovate, to race, to
perfect, to win.
"It's a huge undertaking to fully prepare
for Formula One but we believe the rewards are well worth it", says Akihiko
Saito, Senior Managing Director, Toyota Motor Corporation, responsible for
overall Toyota Motorsports activities including F1.
As both engine and chassis builder, Toyota has
made a huge commitment to the Toyota F1 programme and the full resources of
Toyota will be available to the team to ensure the best possible result. More
importantly, beyond the track, we will be fully leveraging our Formula One
participation in our marketing, advertising and communication activities.
Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG), Cologne, was chosen
as the natural base for this new initiative. There already existed a large
specialized motorsport facility with skilled staff and a long and successful
track record in World Championship Rally and Le Mans GT sports car racing.
An expansion programme started to increase the
existing facility of some 18,000sqm to over 30,000sqm and to include new raceshops,
design, development, manufacture and assembly of the entire car. Other features
are a 50% windtunnel, a helipad and the latest in CNC machining equipment.
The Toyota Formula One V10 engine programme will
be entirely designed and built in house in Cologne by a team of talented engineers
headed by Norbert Kreyer and Luca Marmorini and supported by the engineering
facilities in TMC Japan. The team is equipped with a total of eight engine
dynamometers for the extensive bench testing that will be required. The first
single-cylinder engine model is already running and the first F1 engine is
expected to fire up in September 2000.
The Toyota F1 chassis has been under design since
mid 1999 by a team headed by Jean-Claude Martens and a number of wind tunnel
models have been constructed and tested in the Lola facility in England. Computer
simulation techniques have been used to optimise the aerodynamic package that
is such an important element of a modern Formula One car.
Toyota have already started the task of developing
and proving various vehicle components such as hydraulics and brakes via an
intensive testing programme with the Le Mans GT-One car driven by Allan McNish.
This programme will continue throughout 2000. In spring 2001 testing of the
first Toyota Formula One test car is scheduled to commence. It is hoped that
this meticulous approach to preparation for Formula One competition will enable
the team to be as reliable and competitive as possible when they "hit
the ground running" in 2002.
The first Toyota Formula One racecar will launch
early in 2002 and compete in that year's FIA Formula One World Championship.